U of A study assesses problems in labour

A University of Alberta study titled An Examination of Alberta Labour Markets aims to show the opportunity costs of having periodic labour (both skilled and unskilled) shortages in the province.

“(Opportunity cost is) what is given up by not doing something,” said Dr. Robert Ascah, head of the Institute of Public Economic (IPE)s, the organization that commissioned the study.

“It’s used most frequently in business as making judgements around capital investments and what could be achieved if you had invested that amount of money.”

The institute, a branch of the U of A’s department of economics, identified the issue two years ago with the help of an external advisory committee.

Then, due to the lack of expertise within the organization, it commissioned the study, granting the contract to the Western Centre for Economic Research and the Conference Board of Canada.

The two organizations then submitted their findings, and the IPE created the report, releasing it on July 18.

Along with showing the areas of labour shortages (the report specifically notes deficits in the healthcare, food and hospitality industries), it provides several practical courses of action to help mollify this issue.

According to the study, apprenticeship completion has fallen in the past few years due to lack of financial support.

Had the completion rates remained strong, there would have been an additional 38,000 people in the trades, the study posits. Allowing tradespeople to apply for student loans to cover their tuition and tools would help this problem, Ascah summarized.

This suggestion is one of many; others aim at increasing the presence of First Nations people, people with disabilities and the elderly in the work force.